On our way into Birmmingham city centre, I first caught sight of Malaysian Delight’s sign. We hurriedly parked the car and dropped out luggages at the Holiday Inn. It was already 1pm, and bacon was due at work by 2pm, which was about another 15-20mins away from the city centre. But I reasoned that a boy’s gotta eat, so I rushed him to what I thought was Malaysian Delight.

But I was so wrong. I did not even realised I was wrong until later in the evening as I walked past Malaysian Delight and realised that we had ate at the restaurant NEXT DOOR! OMG…bimbo moment alert. I even thought to myself that the inside of the restaurant looked way smaller than what I thought it would be from the outside – well, obviously, cause it was half the size of Malaysian Delight!

Introducing Village Cafe. And yes, they do Malaysian food.So no, I am not as stupid as I look. What are the chances of two side-by-side Malaysian restaurant in the middle of Middle England??? They even adopted the kampung (village) look. Apologies for the quality of pictures in this post – we were in a hurry, and had a total of 20 minutes to order, wolf down and pay. And I brought my camera with me, just not batteries that I’ve left in my luggage at the Holiday Inn…so the cybershot saves the day again.

Bacon had nasi lemak. Yes, he’s caught the bug from me. And here he is stealing my food…greedy.

Fluffy white rice, check. Fake banana leaf melamine plate, check. Sambal, check. Anchovies and peanuts, check. Cucumber, check. Sambal, check. Curry chicken chinese style with potatoes, check. Missing hard boiled egg. And fried tumeric marinated chicken. Bacon thinks that this is better than the one at Malaysian Delight.

However, after realising that I make quite a mean nasi lemak (ableit taking me 2 hours) I have stopped yearning for it as much. I went with the breakfast of my childhood instead, the delish Penang prawn noodle, or Hokkien mee to the penang-born. My parents still buy this for me for breakfast when I go back

Fish cake, check. kangkung, check. big prawns, check. Boiled egg, check. And invisible to the eye is a very good prawn based stock with fresh yellow noodles. I am extremely impressed. It was such a shame that I had to finish my meal in extreme quickness….sigh. I couldve sat there all afternoon just slowly slurping away at the soup.

And yes, I did finish the soup. Sweet taste of home…As much as I interchange my Penang/Kuala Lumpur identity, my tastebuds will always remain a Penangnite.As proof of that, I do not crave for the KL version of Hokkien mee…fat noodles panfried in a sticky black sauce with deepfried port fat.

But please do not make me choose between the assam laksa and hokkien mee.

The Village Cafe
Ladywell Walk
Birmingham B5 4ST
+44 (0) 121 666 7587

Before we left Birmmingham, I insisted that we return to where I wanted to eat the first day – Malaysian delight. It really is a slice of home – looking alot like a busy kopitiam anywhere in Malaysia.

Waus and posters of the KL Towers

Bacon was extremely undecided, so we got him nasi lemak again just to compare. According to him it’s not as nice at Village Cafe’s…and definately not as nice as C&R Cafe in London. To be honest, it’s too nyonya styled…with the creamy curry chicken cut into tiny pieces and tiny servings of sambal.

I had assam laksa….and I must say that this is the most satisfying assam laksa I’ve ever had. Ever. It is a mix between traditional Penang Assam Laksa and the malay warung version of assam laksa. Whatever, as long as it was excellent. It is extremely spicy (suprising for UK standards) and super sour – probably helped along by the squeeze of lemon I gave it.

Finger licking good. Complete with the required sardines, sliced cucumber and pineapple and mint sprig.Yummmers. It gave me the usual stomach cramps from too spicy and too sour food..ahhh…the pain reminds me of being home:)

Malaysian Delight
8 Ladywell Walk
B5 4ST
tel: 01216223909